Nikon XQD Card

[JohnC6]

I took a quick look down the posts and unless I've missed it there's no mention of this new ultra-fast card.

I was standing next to a Nikon owner a few days ago and I was amazed at the fps his camera was sounding off. I asked how many fps he was shooting at and he said 10. That's the same as my 1D1V. It's clearly buffering them at a heck of a rate. I assume that's the reason it sounded more than my 10fps.He then told me he had the new Nikon XQD card and took it out to show me. Canon haven't adopted this yet but when it does it won't fit current models.That's my understanding.

This article is dated January 10th...ie.last Tuesday.

http://www.diyphotography.net/nikon-is-really-pushing-xqd-why-isnt-canon/

Nikon have this 20fps camera but he didn't have this one.. http://www.digitaltrends.com/photog...s-per-second-nikons-v3-can-even-outgun-dslrs/

 

[jamesev]

Yes obviously a function of MPx v FPS. the Flagship Nikon moved from 16 to 20 MPx which means that it can produce 30-40 MB files per image. That requires 400MB/s write.

The 20FPS model is that shooting RAW?

 

[JohnC6]

Yes obviously a function of MPx v FPS. the Flagship Nikon moved from 16 to 20 MPx which means that it can produce 30-40 MB files per image. That requires 400MB/s write.

The 20FPS model is that shooting RAW?

James..I don't know anything about the 20FPS model and as the chap said his Nikon was 10fps it seems that he didn't have the 20FPS flagship model anyway so I'm unable to answer you query about whether that's in RAW or not…the 20fps. As you've mentioned it then I need to check my own 1D1V. I wasn't aware that the format jpeg or RAW was a factor in fps. From what you say re. the 400MB/s write then clearly existing Canon will not be able to accommodate that XQD card but as his camera was not that 20FPS flagship model then other Nikon cameras would appear to be able to take that card. .Some people just don't explain things properly so maybe I've misunderstood him and he does have the 20FPS flagship model. Because I hadn't heard of it I didn't question him about his camera but he said it was a 10fps camera..ie. not the 20fps flagship model .

Could you assist me please ? I came back on to see if there were any replies and nowhere could I see this post in the 'Talk Equipment' thread. I've found it only by going into the search facility for my own posts. It has pages 1-1469. next... The latest was on Friday '3 little words" by twhite87..here
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/talk-equipment.14/page-2

I've just got up another window on my computer and accessed Talk Equipment again still can't find it.Infact I better keep this window/page open for any replies after refreshing it.. Any suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Nod]

IIRC, the V3 is Nikon's latest CSC so not really a flagship! Again, IIRC, the 1AW can do 60fps but only JPEGs (but that's OK with me, I always shoot JPEG anyway!) Just charging my V1 to see how many that does at full chat.


ETA the results of a quick, unscientific test.

According to the menu, the V1 can shoot at 60fps. Aiming at my monitor to get as fast a shutter speed as currently practicable, it will shoot 42 frames at 3872x2592 pixels at Fine quality before the buffer is full when using a 30MB/s SanDisk Extreme SD card. Switching to a faster 90MB/s card still tops out at 430 shots so I'm guessing it's the camera's buffer that fills up rather than the card being too slow! Switching to record NEF and JPEG, it drops to a mere 36 shots before the buffer's full... The shutter speed I got it down to is 1/250th.

As redhead17 says, even the lowly 40 frames should be enough for most people!

 

[redhed17]

XQD is not new, Nikon have been using the XQD cards for about 4-5 years, but only on the D4 until last year. The D4 had 1x CF card and 1x XQD card slots. Then they announced the D5 and D500, both of which can take XQD cards, XQD and SD for the D500, and by specifying two XQD card slots instead of two CF card slots for the D5. XQD cards are not responsible for the 10fps of the D500 and 12fps for the D5, but by using the a XQD cards you would be able to fire at 10fps (D500) or 12fps (D5) for up to 200 shots. Using a fast SD card will give you about 70 shots at 10fps, which is enough for most people. And the higher burst rates are for RAW files too btw.

Canon have decided to use the CF and CFast format for the 1DXII, so I doubt you will ever see XQD on a Canon camera. CFast is a newer format which allows for faster data transfer like the XQD cards. The 1DXII can shoot at 14fps (RAW) for up to 170 images in a burst. CFast, like XQD, is another card format which not many cameras are using atm.

 

[Hairyduck]

I'm amazed the XQD cards haven't become more mass market too, they really are stunning in the D4, gone is the worry about having the buffer fill up if there's unmissable activity going on

 

[redhed17]

I'm amazed the XQD cards haven't become more mass market too, they really are stunning in the D4, gone is the worry about having the buffer fill up if there's unmissable activity going on

If Sony, who devised the XQD format won't put it in any of its consumer cameras, then the outlook for becoming mass market don't look good. I think they use them in their high end broadcast video camera, but that is it.

I was surprised that Nikon put it in the D500. With so few devices using the card, the prices will probably stay quite high.

 

[Impspeed]

Nikon D3/D3s - 12mp - 10fps. Not new technology. The D3 can only shoot 10fps for a short while before filling the internal buffer but the D3s can shoot about 80 consecutive raw files before filling it's buffer - both CF cards
Nikon D4/D4s - 16mp - 11fps. These shoot to either CF or XQD cards. I have a D4s and even shooting 11fps, never filled the internal buffer. Mainly due to card write times, but also the size of the buffer in the camera getting bigger to deal with larger file sizes
Nikon D5 - 18mp - 12fps with AF, or 14fps with mirror lock-up - these shoot astonishingly fast. I'm sure someone may need the options of 14fps, but shooting with the D5 over the weekend, I just set it back to 10fps for fast motorsport use.

The V3 Nikon, shooting 20fps, essentially takes stills from video, same as the old J1, so only shooting in JPEG up to a maximum resolution of 4k.

XQD has been around for quite a while now and is well adopted for professional use. Sony use it in all their digital format video camera's for its superior data transfer rates (read and write) and I'll always prefer to shoot with the XQD cards in my D4s.

 

[Nod]

The V3 Nikon, shooting 20fps, essentially takes stills from video, same as the old J1, so only shooting in JPEG up to a maximum resolution of 4k.

Are you sure about that? Seems a backwards step from the old V1 which shoots 60fps at full resolution and in raw/NEF. Can't verify the actual frame rate since it's too dull to get a suitably high shutter speed but the figures I give above in post 4 are from a quick test I did so from personal experience rather than reading reviews/spec sheets.

 

[Kei]

XQD has been around for quite a while now and is well adopted for professional use. Sony use it in all their digital format video camera's for its superior data transfer rates (read and write) and I'll always prefer to shoot with the XQD cards in my D4s.

XQD is considered a secondary format as it is based on consumer technology. It can only be used in pro video cameras via an adapter to convert the express card slot. SxS is the defacto standard memory card in the sony pro market. TBH, it all revolves around the ability to cope with nand wear over time and how robust they are etc. I think the difference between them is pretty small really but the broadcast market are unlikely to change even though the cards are half the price. Not that any of this matters to the photography community.

 

[redhed17]

Nikon D5 - 18mp - 12fps with AF, or 14fps with mirror lock-up - these shoot astonishingly fast. I'm sure someone may need the options of 14fps, but shooting with the D5 over the weekend, I just set it back to 10fps for fast motorsport use.

It's only 3mp, but the D5 is 21mp, well 20.8mp to be exact.

As the pixel counts rise so do the file sizes. I think all the current card types, SD, CF, CFast and XQD, can transfer the data fast enough for at least 5-7 seconds at full frames per second rates on the types of cameras that need them. Which is enough for most people. Now when mirrorless cameras and future DSLRs start to go beyond 15fps a fast card may start to be more important on more cameras. It will be a brave manufacturer who moves away from SD cards for their mid and lower level camera though.

The above is with fast SD and CF cards btw.

 

[jamesev]

James..I don't know anything about the 20FPS model and as the chap said his Nikon was 10fps it seems that he didn't have the 20FPS flagship model anyway so I'm unable to answer you query about whether that's in RAW or not…the 20fps. As you've mentioned it then I need to check my own 1D1V. I wasn't aware that the format jpeg or RAW was a factor in fps.

There will be a difference in file size between RAW and Jpeg by the nature jpg is compressed. One of the FPS limiting factor is how quickly the card can be written to in preparation for the next file.

clearly a 200 MB/s write speed card can take 10 x 20Mb jpg files but couldnt take the equivalent 10x RAW files which could be 30-35 mb each.

I hear the next generation of XQD could be 1GB/s writes

 

[JohnC6]

HI james..I lost it again

There will be a difference in file size between RAW and Jpeg by the nature jpg is compressed. One of the FPS limiting factor is how quickly the card can be written to in preparation for the next file.

clearly a 200 MB/s write speed card can take 10 x 20Mb jpg files but couldnt take the equivalent 10x RAW files which could be 30-35 mb each.

I hear the next generation of XQD could be 1GB/s writes

Thanks,James. The thread has become quite technical now and beyond my understanding of the terms used. Redhed is saying that Canon won't go with it but has it's own version but not for all cameras which no doubt includes my 1D1V 5D11 and 7D11 so that has answered my main question.

Once again I could not locate this thread but fortunately you posted using the copy/alert system so I've accessed it via that.

 

[Swanseajack]

Are you sure about that? Seems a backwards step from the old V1 which shoots 60fps at full resolution and in raw/NEF. Can't verify the actual frame rate since it's too dull to get a suitably high shutter speed but the figures I give above in post 4 are from a quick test I did so from personal experience rather than reading reviews/spec sheets.

When you look at the specs on the Nikon website it states 20fps for the V3 from website " Game-changing speed Lock onto action with the 171-point hybrid AF system. Achieve split-second timing with shooting speeds of up to 20 fps with continuous AF." http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/product/digital-cameras/nikon-1/performance/nikon-1-v3

But when you look at the tech specs it states " Frame advance rate Approx. 6, 10, 20, 30, or 60 fps " possibly some way of trying to up the specs by the look of things??. http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/product/digital-cameras/nikon-1/performance/nikon-1-v3

You also then get this statement, confusing a little > "Lightning-fast FPS: with RAW format shooting speeds that are faster than a D-SLR, the V3 leaves nothing to chance. The camera takes 40 images in a rapid burst, delivering continuous shooting at up to 60 fps with focus fixed at the first frame, and up to 20 fps with continuous AF. Uncover the wonders hidden in a split second."

 

[Nod]

Sounds about right! I just pointed mine at the screen so no refocussing needed, just machine gunning to see how many it could handle in a burst at top speed. I was planning on shooting a water filled balloon from below as it was burst but will have to content myself with side shooting since my 1AW got killed!